Solar Eclipse of 2017

I invited my fifth-floor neighbor Alex to watch the eclipse with me up on the tenth. We were in zone of 99% of total eclipse, but we didn’t get the dramatic wall of shadow, the change of sky-color. We did get the crescent-shaped shadows and the dramatically dimmed and silvery light, as you can see in this portrait I took of Alex sitting in my apartment right after the maximum eclipse. Because we’re living in a city built in the rainforest, we often have overcast skies, but on this day it was clear, and the silver light was unusual and wonderfully eerie. 

Facebook exploded with photos of people in cardboard-and-mylar glasses, but my favorite comment is that of my friend Nick: “I'm excited that in a few minutes a bunch of people are going to watch the eclipse & then simultaneously and collectively realize that life is better spent experiencing the wonders of nature than the toils of largely unnecessary economic labor in a wasteful & exploitative system.” Again and again I celebrate the very great privilege I have to be retired, able to use my time for what matters most to me.